VOGONS


First post, by Willy

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Hello,
I'm running DOSBox 0n Win 10 on a notebook with USB-to-Serial-Converter at COM2.

At start of DOSBox I get a message, that serial mode 9600,5,n,1 is not supported.
At DOS-prompt, >MODE COM2:300,N,8,1 leads also to a message, that serial mode 300,5,n,1 is not supported.

The attachment Unbenannt.PNG is no longer available

So it seems that the databits are fixed to 5.

Is that an error or did I do something wrong?

Reply 1 of 5, by jmarsh

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What MODE command/utility is this?

Reply 2 of 5, by DaveDDS

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Willy wrote on 2026-07-13, 15:58:

... At start of DOSBox I get a message, that serial mode 9600,5,n,1 is not supported.
At DOS-prompt, >MODE COM2:300,N,8,1 leads also to a message, that serial mode 300,5,n,1 is not supported.

I run an older DosBox under Win7 with serial ports (often USB ones) all the time, at all kinds of speeds, often 115,200 with no problems.

When my edition of DosBox starts, it sez this in the log window:

Serial1: Opening COM1
Serial2: Opening COM2
Serial2: Serial Port "COM2" could not be opened.
Serial3: Nullmodem server waiting for connection on port 23...

No mention of speed or any other assumed settings, and there's no way to tell if assumed settings when starting/

All of my software that talks serial opens and configures the port before trying to use it.

I don't see why DosBox would assume 5-bits by default, but who knows maybe the PC 8250 came up at 5 bits and DosBox tried to emulate that (which might explain the error at startup), but shouldn't occur when you try to use MODE to change the speed to 8-bits. Which leads to a couple more questions:

1) MODE deosn't exist in the older version of Dosbox that I've using- what edition are you using?

3) It almost seems your "MODE" or DosBox itself has been currupted, why when you explicitly say 8 bits is it reporting on a failure to achieve 5?

A couple Q's:

Does it to the same with COM1?

Does it work/fail when you use a program which explicitly opens and configured the serisl?

https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ; "Daves Old Computers" ; SW dev addict best known:
ImageDisk: rd/wr ANY floppy PChw can ; Micro-C: compiler for DOS+ManySmallCPU ; DDLINK: simple/small filecopy(w/o netSW)via Lan/Lpt/Com

Reply 3 of 5, by Jo22

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I had such problems, too. SDL didn't like my USB to serial converter. Or vice versa.
My workaround was to use Qemu: Fixing a VGA issue in Qemu 0.9 (&Kqemu)

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 4 of 5, by DaveDDS

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FWIW - I have quite a few USB<>Serial cables which I use with DosBox a LOT - and most of them are based on "Prolific PL-2303" device.
- and not had any such problems! (mostly under Win7 - 10/11 might be fussier)

https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ; "Daves Old Computers" ; SW dev addict best known:
ImageDisk: rd/wr ANY floppy PChw can ; Micro-C: compiler for DOS+ManySmallCPU ; DDLINK: simple/small filecopy(w/o netSW)via Lan/Lpt/Com

Reply 5 of 5, by DaveDDS

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Also, if you grab DDLINK.ZIP from my site, it contains DDMODE.COM a little tool to directly set the COM port <peed><parity><data-bite><stop-bits>

eg> DDMODE COM1:9600N81

https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ; "Daves Old Computers" ; SW dev addict best known:
ImageDisk: rd/wr ANY floppy PChw can ; Micro-C: compiler for DOS+ManySmallCPU ; DDLINK: simple/small filecopy(w/o netSW)via Lan/Lpt/Com